PH shares soar as peso further weakens

PHILIPPINE shares climbed on Friday but the peso continued to weaken against the US dollar.Philippine shares rose to 6,217.56 after gaining 152.33 points or 2.51 percent.Meanwhile, the peso weakened further, closing at P54.839 against the US dollar on Friday from its previous close of P54.49, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.Shares were higher in Europe and Asia on Friday despite data suggesting some economies are slowing.U.S. futures also advanced after a rally Thursday on Wall Street, where the market is headed for its first weekly gain after three weeks of punishing losses.Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index added 1.2 percent to 26,491.97 and the Kospi in Seoul jumped 2.3 percent to 2,366.60. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 2.1 percent to 21,719.06 and the Shanghai Composite index added 0.9 percent to 3,349.75.In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.8 percent to 6,578.70. Shares also rose in India and Taiwan.Trading has been turbulent in recent weeks as investors try to determine whether a recession is looming. The benchmark S&P 500 is currently in a bear market. That means it has dropped more than 20 percent from its most recent high, which was in January. The index has fallen for 10 of the last 11 weeks.As higher prices stretch their budgets, consumers are shifting spending from big ticket items like electronics to necessities. The pressure has been worsened by record-high gasoline prices that show no sign of abating.Early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil was up 81 cents at $105.08 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the basis for pricing for international trading, picked up 60 cents to $107.06 per barrel. (CSL with reports from AP)